Releasing Outcomes

“Obsession with outcomes is, among other things, an abandonment of faith.” pg 20

The pragmatic approach to righting wrongs in this world would contend that the ends justify the means, that violence utilized for the promotion of peace is justifiable. We think,  “How can we permit evil to run rampant in the world oppressing the weak and defenseless when we may use violent force to stand up against such evils?” We see that violence forces results, and we are willing to take the risk of ourselves becoming evil because we hold out hope that somehow we can defeat evil with evil measures. We just want to see results, no matter what it takes.

I have been taking a self-defense class with a friend for the past few months. Throughout my time learning different forceful maneuvers, I have struggled with this issue of what it means to trust in the power of Love and its capability to trump violence. I have been raised to believe that there is no greater power than that of the Love of Christ. After all, scripture informs us that “perfect love casts out all fear.” It is easy to claim to believe this when it is convenient. But what about in those moments when forces of fear seem to be winning and overpowering that of Love? In those cases, I find myself justifying whatever tactics I deem necessary in efforts to protect myself and overcome whatever forces are standing against me. But as I work to justify what I am learning, I can’t help but think about the rest of 1 John 4:

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is ^[a]born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[b]in us, that God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.¹² No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[d]for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear ^[e]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us. ²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.²¹ And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

As one who seeks to follow Christ and live by His example, inviting Him to abide in my life as I learn to abide in Him, I cannot understand how this endeavor can coincide with violence against my brother, however evil he may be. Notice that the aim is not so much to force another person to be changed or transformed. The goal is to be like Christ and to know Him by living a life of love.

Zahnd’s observation of what took place as Christ was dying on the cross has been incredibly thought-provoking to me:

“Did evil triumph because this good man did nothing? It certainly seemed so. But don’t forget the dying prayer of Jesus: ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ I think we can understand Jesus’s prayer as something like this: ‘Father, I have obeyed you, I have shown the world your ways, but the world has rejected me and your ways. I forgive them, but I am dying. So now I entrust everything to you.’ This is the way of the cruciform. It is the way of faith. In going to the cross, Jesus was not being practical; He was being faithful… Jesus chose to absorb the ugliness of evil and turn it into something beautiful–the beauty of forgiveness.” pg 21

In reading this, I feel challenged. Do I trust that the power of Love and Forgiveness is powerful… that it is worth giving myself up for?  If I truly believe that the Spirit of God lives in me, I should trust that I, too, may be empowered to absorb the ugliness of evil and turn it into something beautiful through the power of Love and Forgiveness.

Evil seeks to proliferate by evoking evil reactions and distorting good intentions from what is pure and right. In death, Jesus was able to triumph over evil’s intent. He absorbed the evil in an act of sacrificial Love. Evil cannot triumph against those who choose to remain faithful to Love.